Travesty

Ruben Amaro Jr trumped conventional wisdom when he decided to not offer arbitration to free agents SP Jamie Moyer and LF Pat Burrell. Now the Phillies will not get any type of compensation whatsoever if and when they sign with other teams. Now the odds are highly against Jamie Moyer signing with another club but LF Pat Burrell will almost certainly get a long-term deal from a team that needs a right handed hitter who will chip in 30 HRs and close to a .400 OBP. The Angels are said to be interested in Pat as a 1B/DH if they are unable to resign Mark Teixiera. There are several other teams such as the Mariners and Giants who are supposedly interested in him as well. At age 32, Burrell would have almost certainly declined arbitration, hoping for a chance to make one last killing on the free agent market. Even had he accepted, the worst case scenario for the Phillies would have been to keep their long-time leftfielder for one more season while highly touted OF prospects Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor continued to improve in the minors.

By not even offering arbitration, Amaro Jr. has clearly shown that the Phillies will always be about the bottom line first and competing for a championship second. There will be no compensation picks, no fresh talent to help rejuvenate the minor league system. The Phillies, in their infinite wisdom will likely compound this moronic decision by signing another team's Type A free agent who was actually offered arbitration so they can not only not recoup comp picks for Burrell but also sacrifice their own 1st round pick. Coming off a World Series victory, flush with cash from record attendance and record ticket sales, the Phillies have no motivation to reinvest that money in their on-field product. These moves merely reinforce the reality of the situation. Now that outsider Pat Gillick is gone, the ultimate yes-man is GM. So Ruben, pretty please with sugar on top, GO PHUCK YOURSELF!!!